Is this the future of splinting?

Is this the future of splinting?

30th June 2015

Wow what a fascinating afternoon! We met the UK Woodcast team, to see if this is a potential product for use within Neurological splinting. Before they arrived we had a number of questions in our mind; would it have enough drapability, conformity and how strong and resilient would be for our clients with significant spasticity?

We have to say we’re most impressed with this new material. Not only is it completely eco friendly, being able to be put onto your compost heap when no longer required, but also meets all our clinical requirements.

Some of our favourite things about Woodcast:

It was quick and easy to heat, using a specialised dry pan and cut into appropriate patterns.

It handled comparably to thermoplastics we are all familiar with, with less issues with over-stretching and is fully remouldable.

It conformed well to the architecture of the hand with less finger marking from the handler.

It can be easy adhered to itself to form unique patterns and add strength.

Costs are comparable to regular thermoplastics, if not cheaper and potentially with less wastage.

These are just some of our initial thoughts, but we now need to put it to the test! Here at OT Partners we are going to be the first Independent practice OT’s to trial Woodcast as a splinting material option for our clients later in July. We look forward to feeding back our findings in practice and would be happy to discuss with anyone who might be interested.